No. 33 - Its Gran Canaria Magazine

68
REPORT I REPORTAJE EDICIÓN 33
From a dream to reality:
a magical day out with dolphins and beaked whales
My dream has finally come true. I am in Gran Canaria on
board a catamaran, the Spirit of the Sea, on a dolphin sightseeing
tour. I have always been fascinated by and felt a
strange closeness to these wonderful animals and today,
hopefully, I will be able to enjoy them and their company.
We have been sailing now for a while on the Atlantic waters,
on the southwest side of the island. The skipper and a sailor
are on the bridge with binoculars looking out over the horizon
and looking for dolphins and whales. According to the
crew's guide, this is a ZEC, or special conservation area, and
has also been classified as a Biosphere Reserve, among other
reasons, because of the great diversity of cetaceans that
inhabit the area. He also tells us that there are about 90 species
of cetaceans in the world and that, to date, more than a
third of the world's diverse range of species has been identified
in the Canary Islands, which makes them quite a unique
place and one of the most interesting destinations for whale
watching and study.
I didn't know there were so many species. We are told that
there are bottlenose dolphins, spotted dolphins, striped
dolphins, rough-toothed dolphins, common dolphins, all of
them between two and three metres long. Grey pilot whales,
short-finned pilot whales, killer whales, and false killer whales
can also be seen, the latter being larger in size - killer whales,
for example, can reach up to nine metres. Larger still are the
sperm whales, which can reach almost 20 metres, although
pygmy sperm whales can also be seen on occasions.
When he starts to talk about other species of cetaceans, such
as whales, that can be sighted around here, we suddenly see
a flock of seagulls near the water, foam everywhere and lots
of dolphins leaping and swimming around at full speed. A
couple of hundred metres away from the dolphins, the skipper
stops the boat to get a better view of what he is going to
explain to us: we are looking at a group of dolphins who are
hunting, a true spectacle. The dolphins appear to be rounding
up a school of fish and then feasting on them. Suddenly,
they turn around and start swimming towards us. It is very
exciting. In front of the dolphins we see a huge group of fish
seeking refuge under the Spirit of the Sea and we take the
opportunity to go downstairs to the glass bottom galleries.
On the surface I could see 70 to 90 dolphins but now underwater
I can see hundreds. Impressive indeed.
After a while the dolphins swim away, it turns out they were
bottlenose dolphins. We are now sailing again when the
skipper tells us that he has spotted some beaked whales
about half a mile out, so we head off.
I had never heard of beaked whales before. They explain
that they belong to a family of cetaceans with 22 different
species, some of which are quite unknown. In fact, some
of them are only known thanks to remains found on some
beaches. My curiosity increases as we get closer. From a distance
I see two animals similar to dolphins but larger, about
four metres in length and with their dorsal fins much further
back. They swim slowly and are easy to see. I am really surprised
by what I see; they have very different heads; one of
them has the sides of the lower jaw so arched that they protrude
over the face and are crowned with a tooth on the upper
part pointing upwards, that is the male one. The females
do not have such pronounced jaw bulges and teeth. They
are Blainville's beaked whales. Suddenly they both dive and
the skipper tells us that it will probably take them a while
to come back up as we are in an area with a depth of more
than 600 metres and they are probably going to the bottom
in search of food.
The time to return to port is fast approaching and we head
for land. I go up to the skipper and ask him about the boat.
He tells me that the Spirit of the Sea was the pioneer on this
island in whale watching trips, motivated by a passion for the
sea and cetaceans. This is something that, as far as I can see,
pretty much sums up the crew. This catamaran was specially
designed for this activity and therefore has galleries with
glass bottoms among other peculiar features. He goes on
to say that when they started out they got in touch with the
University of Las Palmas, collaborating in a number projects
in an attempt to provide support for the environment and
sustainability. Another interesting aspect of this experience
is the amount I have been able to learn about cetaceans and
their environment thanks to the crew's explanations. Bravo
for the educational side to the trip.
Suddenly, and in mid conversation, the skipper swings the
rudder around and makes a 90-degree turn, simultaneously
slowing down. He has spotted a turtle entangled in a fishing
net and they are going to rescue it. He tells me that they always
stop to remove nets and plastics as they are very dangerous
for the animals. Luckily it is not injured and we can
put it back in the sea. If we hadn't pulled her out she could
have died, how sad and how proud we are to have been able
to help her out.
As we pull into port I am overwhelmed by a sense of happiness
and tranquility. It has been a wonderful experience, I
have seen beaked whales, enjoyed the dolphins even though
they were underwater, and even saved a turtle. It has been a
dream come true for me.
For further information on cetaceans in Gran Canaria, go to: www.dolphin-whale.com